We may not suffer, thank goodness, from a great deal of street crime and mugging in the North Bedfordshire villages but yesterday I received a disturbing email about a terrible crime which took place in a field not far away. Four ewes were slaughtered (presumably for their meat) and their remains left for the sheep farmer to find. They were all pregnant with a total of 7 embryos inside their carcasses. The farmer is a lovely young man who we know well, he helps us when we have problems with our stock and he works very hard to raise good quality animals in a humane manner. The financial loss probably exceeds £500 and the emotional and psychological toll is unmeasurable.

I have just been out to visit our pregnant ewes. I can’t imagine how the criminals managed to catch and kill the four unfortunate creatures but I hope that the meat makes them sick!